Movie Review: ‘Bad Milo!’

Meet Milo, a monster the likes of which Hollywood has never seen – probably because he spends most of his time hiding in an anal cavity he calls home.

In short, “Bad Milo!” is a horror comedy about a creature living in a man’s insides. And here’s why it’s worth your while.

Clever, funny and unreservedly gross, “Bad Milo!” sticks to a simple mission: to break the formula of creature feature flicks. It does so, proudly embracing the absurdity of its premise, championing style over subject matter, which in this case is quite literally crap. Nevertheless, it delves into a deeper theme of suppressed emotions that might just catch you by surprise.

Lovable everyman Duncan Hayslip (Ken Marino) is a passive financial adviser who’s very, very stressed. At work, Duncan’s stereotypical scumbag boss (Patrick Warburton) takes over Duncan’s office, reassigning him to a new job firing employees and a new office in an old, slightly renovated bathroom. At home, things don’t look much better: his wife (Gillian Jacobs) desperately wants a child, his mother dates a very young man insistent on taking over as Duncan’s father and above all, Duncan has insufferable stomach troubles that only seem to get worse with his stress.

The apathetic doctor has no answers for Duncan, who finally turns to kooky hypnotherapist and relaxation expert Dr. Oliver Highsmith (Peter Stormare). Dr. Highsmith discovers the source of Duncan’s problems: a fecal creature a few feet high that comes out of Duncan’s anus when he is highly stressed to destroy the source of the stress.

After some of these stress sources, such as Duncan’s annoying office mate and his boss, turn up viciously murdered (by raccoon attacks as per the media), Duncan hops onboard with Dr. Highsmith. Together, the pair aims to face Duncan’s metaphorical inner demon, his relationship with his long-estranged father, while keeping at bay his very literal one.

In an “Office Space”-style dark comedy parodying the stress of everyday life, writer and director James Vaughan keeps his style fresh and free of succumbing to simply tasteless jokes. Slight touches, such as TVs in the back constantly playing news of “raccoon attacks,” are sprinkled like Easter eggs throughout the film.

The craftily written dialogue, such as Duncan’s dinner table conversation with his mom and her boyfriend insistent on sharing their sex life, or his conversation with his boss who reminds Duncan to be a team player, touches upon things we all encounter, such as useless bosses and awkward family interactions. Despite the film’s absurd nature, its humor stays grounded in a comedic reality.

But this relatability comes off as almost effortless, since “Bad Milo!” never takes itself too seriously. It comes equipped with a full arsenal of fart jokes, poop jokes and plenty of over-the-top violence and gore. Far more funny than scary, “Bad Milo!” nevertheless follows the horror format, with point-of-view killings and a ghoulish soundtrack for example, in a tongue-in-cheek way.

About halfway through, however, the style loses its punch as the story loses some of its quirky characters and focuses heavily on Duncan trying to confront and make peace with Milo.

The serious-faced Marino plays Duncan to perfection; he takes over the role of a poor average Joe tortured by troubles he’s too timid to face. Marino makes Duncan someone relatable, the everyday guy struggling to survive the day, someone real despite the absurd scenario. The supporting cast also offers flavorful cameo-like performances that create the colorful characters that hold up finer details of the film.

Perhaps the biggest star of the film is Milo. Rather than relying on complex CGI, Milo is instead made as an adorable, fanged and possibly smelly puppet to drive home the silliness of it all. Its relationship with Duncan is that of Hyde to Jekyll, manifesting itself as Duncan’s inner frustrations and desires. This way, Milo comes off as a character with more depth than its initial appearance through one of the strangest metaphors in film.

And why shouldn’t he? Milo is just like any other horror creature in literature and film – he just comes from a special place. And considering the fresh brand of comedic horror “Bad Milo!” offers, it might end up in a special place too.